The Rat wrote:
You know what, I really like these. The muted, fading color of the leaves does a great job of setting the mood and atmosphere.
Thanks. At first, I was bummed that the colors were not vibrant around here, but as usual, hiking in the great outdoor settings has a way of affecting the mindset. After some time in the woods, I came to appreciate the warmth and beauty around me.
gdanmitchell wrote:
Nice work on a difficult subject — making effective compositions out of complex and dense vegetation.
The rising road in the second one seems to me to give it the most focus.
Thanks! I get lots of "complex and dense vegetation" practice in the forests around here . Good eye on the "rising road" comment, elevation differences around here are few and it does make a difference in shots.
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Ross Martin wrote:
Raymond, the quiet, gentle beauty you have captured gives me the warm vibes I get when I am back home strolling through the forests of Ohio.
Happy to oblige Ross. Thanks for the kind words.
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Ross Martin wrote:
Raymond, do you ever shoot in Cuyahoga NP? I have not visited there in fall yet.
I have made trips to Cuyahoga NP, but not of late. There are lots of possibilities there, and fall color is usually later there (meaning there are late season opportunities, typically late Oct I believe). Depends on my availability to get out there (it's about a 2.5 hour drive one-way for me). There are also some decent parks in the area as well; one in particular I enjoy is Rocky River Reservation.
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douter wrote:
Love photos with paths in them, Ray, even more when they are leaf-covered!
Douglas
Douglas, I especially enjoy the sounds of falling leaves and the crunch of leaves underfoot in the fall.
I like the restrained processing. Most foliage shots have the reds saturation to 11.
As Dan said, forests are a difficult subject, and I am yet to master it. On the rare occasions that I shoot forests I often add softness to the image intentionally, particularly as objects recede towards the background. Works best with stronger light.
To me #1 is the best. #2 is interesting but has two things that don't work for me
1/ there is no place for the eye to exit at the end of the road. The brightest part of the image is along the top edge, so my eye bounces there as soon as it hits the end of the road. Perhaps darken that area (or clone paint foliage there) and add brightness and softness at the end of the road
2/ The transition from dark to light in the road is exactly what you want, but is abrupt. Maybe experiment with selectively brightening the foreground and darkening the middleground to create a smoother gradient as the eye moves from near to far.
Lightsearcher wrote:
Just beautiful. the second shot is pure magic...!!
Marcelo
Thanks Marcelo. I walk, run, bike, and photograph in this park a lot, it's always great to discover new takes and have the right timing.
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GroovyGeek wrote:
I like the restrained processing. Most foliage shots have the reds saturation to 11.
As Dan said, forests are a difficult subject, and I am yet to master it. On the rare occasions that I shoot forests I often add softness to the image intentionally, particularly as objects recede towards the background. Works best with stronger light.
To me #1 is the best. #2 is interesting but has two things that don't work for me
1/ there is no place for the eye to exit at the end of the road. The brightest part of the image is along the top edge, so my eye bounces there as soon as it hits the end of the road. Perhaps darken that area (or clone paint foliage there) and add brightness and softness at the end of the road
2/ The transition from dark to light in the road is exactly what you want, but is abrupt. Maybe experiment with selectively brightening the foreground and darkening the middleground to create a smoother gradient as the eye moves from near to far....Show more →
Yeah, bright skies typically interfere with forest shots unless it's really dense vegetation, or there's clouds in a blue sky. There's some vignetting applied in LR already, not strong enough for some tastes and maybe too strong for others. With regards to sharpness, at times I deliberately keep apertures larger to get sharpness falloff in a landscape scene, so I appreciate the suggestion.
I'll need to try out #2 in LR to form an opinion myself on a more gradual transition. Appreciate the thoughtful comments!
. Good eye on the "rising road" comment, elevation differences around here are few and it does make a difference in shots.